Senate Approves Bailout Plan: 74 - 25

The Senate approved a contentious bill geared largely toward restoring confidence in the credit markets that are at the foundation at the modern American economy.

The vote was 74 to 25, with leaders of both parties - including the standard-bearers, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama - voting in favor of the legislation.

The Senate bill differs from the House bill that was defeated earlier this week. The Senate bill, for example, includes the extension of certain tax breaks that House Republicans insisted upon. Also included in the bill was a temporary raising of the FDIC limits from $100,000 to $250,000.

The House is expected to vote on the measure on Friday.

Stocks were little changed on Wednesday, as traders anxiously kept watch over the deliberations over the bailout bill in Washington. And while approval in the Senate was not surprising to many observers, the fact that the bailout legislation had already failed in Congress no doubt limited the aggression - and conviction - of many a trader today.

S&P futures were down immediately after the vote. The S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow industrials remain below their 200-day moving averages and had been drifting modestly higher after the dramatic oversold extremes from Monday's historic sell-off.

Be sure to stay in touch with TradingMarkets.com for more on the bailout bill - as well as updates on the stocks and ETFs you need to know to profit in these volatile times.